What is the CSRS death benefit?

The Basic Employee Death Benefit (BEDB) is a lump sum payment made to the surviving spouse or former spouse of a deceased married FERS employee who dies in service with at least 18 months of federal service. The BEDB is not a survivor annuity.

How much does CSRS survivor benefit cost?

It will cost you 10% of your monthly CSRS pension to provide this survivor annuity. And this reduction will be permanent. Your CSRS pension will be reduced by 10% every month as long as you draw your pension.

Amount of the CSRS Spousal Survivor Annuity The maximum possible survivor annuity is 55 percent of the CSRS annuitant’s annuity before it is reduced by the cost of the survivor benefit (the unreduced annuity). This will generally be about 60 percent of the annuitant’s current gross annuity.

If you retire under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), the maximum survivor benefit payable is 55 percent of your unreduced annual benefit. If you retire under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), the maximum survivor benefit payable is 50 percent of your unreduced annual benefit.

What happens to my CSRS if my wife dies?

A. If you died, your wife would be able to receive both her earned Social Security benefit and a CSRS survivor annuity, with no reduction in either. If she were to die before you, you’d continue to receive your CSRS annuity.

How does CSRS affect spousal Social Security benefits?

A: Because you will be receiving an annuity from a retirement system in which you didn’t pay Social Security taxes, you will be subject to the government pension offset provision of law. The GPO will reduce any spousal Social Security benefit to which you may be entitled by $2 for every $3 you receive in your CSRS annuity.

How are CSRS and CSRS survivor benefits related?

When the spouse becomes entitled to Social Security survivor benefits, the CSRS survivor annuity is reduced (offset) by the amount of the survivor’s Social Security benefit attributable to the period the deceased annuitant was under CSRS Offset.

Can a CSRS Offset annuity reduce Social Security survivor benefits?

However, the amount of a survivor annuity payable for the surviving spouse of a deceased CSRS Offset annuitant may be reduced if the surviving spouse is eligible for Social Security survivor benefits based on the deceased’s Federal service covered by Social Security.